Poverty stats don’t surprise community services minister

‘We are working on a blueprint’

SYDNEY

Community Services Minister Kelly Regan says she wasn’t surprised by the contents of a report released this week that demonstrated the pervasiveness of child poverty in Nova Scotia, especially Cape Breton.

The report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives noted that of 18 communities in Nova Scotia with a child poverty rate of more than 30 per cent, 10 of them were in Cape Breton, including the highest percentage in the province, Eskasoni at 72.7 per cent. Aboriginal and African-Canadian communities are also overrepresented in the poverty statistics.

In Cape Breton overall, 31.9 per cent of children are living below the poverty line, according to the report.

“We do know that there are certain populations that there’s a bigger gap in terms of their earnings compared to the rest of the Nova Scotia population, so that wasn’t a surprise,” Regan said during a post-cabinet teleconference and scrum with reporters Thursday.

She noted the statistics used for the study are from 2015 and there have been a number of initiatives undertaken since that time that she believes would have an impact on those figures.

“I can tell you that the Canadian Child Benefit has had a significant improvement for Nova Scotian families, has meant big changes,” Regan said, adding that any eligible family would receive up to $533 per child per month.

“From looking at our (income assistance) client list, we do know that we have seen big increases in their income,” she said.

When asked what steps Stephen McNeil’s provincial government has taken to specifically address high rates of child poverty in Cape Breton, Regan said they have increased the amount received by social assistance recipients, and efforts have been made to streamline the system around reporting.

“We have some initiatives underway that will in fact help people get off poverty so that they will be able to access training better, so we look at the barriers that make it difficult for people to get training,” she said.

“We are working on a blueprint and will have much more to come out in the coming days and weeks ahead,” Regan said.

She said they do track income assistance recipients and they know that the caseload is declining.

nancy.king@cbpost.com

Top 10 highest child poverty rates by postal area in Nova Scotia as listed by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report: